Owner takes blame for a disappointing season

‘We underachieved as a club this year and it’s unacceptable,’ says Levingston

Malcom White and the rest of the Halifax Rainmen have lots of questions after a disappointing National Basketball League of Canada season. (TED PRITCHARD / Staff)

THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR A roller-coaster campaign that ended in disappointment for the Halifax Rainmen rests at the top of the organization, the team’s owner says.

“The blame can start with me and then you can filter it down from there but ultimately it lies with me,” Andre Levingston said Monday.

“We underachieved as a club this year and it’s unacceptable.”

On Saturday, already eliminated from the playoff picture, the Rainmen completed their second season in the National Basketball League of Canada with a 133-122 loss to the Summerside Storm.

That left the club with a 19-21 mark — its first sub-.500 record since 2007-08 — and ended a string of three straight playoff appearances, including last year’s 3-2 loss to the London Lightning in the best-of-five NBL final.

“On paper, we probably were one of the more talented teams in the league but we just didn’t get the job done and we have to figure out why,” Levingston said.

“Not only did we not get the job done, we totally stunk this year. We looked bad in some games where we looked like we didn’t even want to play.”

The Rainmen opened camp in October with lofty goals and a blend of veterans and up-and-comers Levingston called the most talented group he’d ever assembled.

But the team stumbled out of the gate, prompting the dismissal of head coach Cliff Levingston, the CEO’s first cousin, on Nov. 13.

He was replaced by Rob Spon, who won five of his first six starts to highlight what deteriorated into a frustrating season for the veteran minor-league bench boss. Spon ended up with a 17-17 record.

“I take full responsibility for not making the playoffs,” the coach said Monday.

“This team just didn’t buy into my defensive philosophies. It just seemed like this team just went through the motions, some of my guys.”

At camp, Halifax started with only one player, Joey Haywood, returning from the 2011-12 edition of the Rainmen.

The team endured some criticism for its frequent personnel moves during the season, a source of upheaval that likely was reflected in the final standings.

Although six players selected for the 2011-12 NBL all-star game suited up for Halifax at some point during the season, the team never seemed to find the right mix.

The inconsistent Rainmen had two three-game winning streaks, losing skids of three and four games and never went more than two games above or below .500.

“I just don’t think we ever jelled,” said Andre Levingston, who doubles as the Rainmen general manager.

“This year’s team never committed to playing defence and we didn’t buy into the team concept this year at all.

“We had guys who played for themselves. And on any given night, we looked like it. We looked like a team that didn’t like passing the ball to one another. We looked like a group that was just divided.”

If not for a season-high 36 assists in Saturday’s meaningless encounter with Summerside, the Rainmen would have finished last in the NBL in that category.

They were last in turnover margin, first in fouls per game and were next to last in both three-pointers made and opponents’ shooting percentage from behind the arc.

The year wasn’t without highlights. Haywood became the first Canadian NBL player to top 1,000 career points. He and Quinnel Brown engineered a stunning comeback against Oshawa with three-pointers in the last three seconds, Brown’s on a waist-high heave from his own foul line at the buzzer. The Rainmen rang in the new year with the best defensive effort in team history, holding Saint John to 70 points.

But they also twice established a franchise record for most lopsided loss at home and endured a 135-90 pounding on Jan. 25 in Summerside that fell one point short of equalling the club’s worst loss ever.

“We have to go back to the drawing board and kind of evaluate everything from top to bottom and figure out how to change things for next year,” Levingston said.

“What is it? Is it the coach couldn’t reach them? Is it guys weren’t on the same page? Is it we had bad chemistry?”

The Rainmen boss emphasized, though, that he’s not looking to wipe the slate clean for 2013-14.

“We have some guys I would definitely like to bring back. I think there’s a good nucleus to build around. We don’t need to break up this entire team.”